An indictment was filed by the ED in this case in June (representation)
New Delhi:
The Law Enforcement Directorate has filed a money laundering complaint against fugitive defense consultant Sanjay Bhandari to investigate bribes worth $ 4.99 million he reportedly received from South Korean major Samsung Engineering Co Ltd (SECL) in 2009, officials said Monday.
The Bhandari company was paid by the SECL, in violation of the rules, to influence government officials in awarding a Rs 6,744 crore contract to set up a dual-feed cracker unit in Gujarat to OPaL, a company promoted by some oil PSUs, including ONGC, they said. .
OPaL, in turn, awarded the project contract to a consortium of SECL and German Linde for Rs 6,875.11 crore, they said.
They said the Central Investigation Agency filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to a police FIR, under the Money Laundering Prevention Act (PMLA ) to investigate these transactions.
The agency learned of a CBI FIR filed earlier this month against Bhandari and others in the case, they said.
This is the second money laundering case against Bhandari after he was registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged possession of undisclosed assets abroad and other charges in February 2017.
An indictment was filed by the ED in this case in June.
The central investigative agency said Bhandari did not cooperate with her in the investigation in the first case and fled the country and was last reported in the UK or a neighboring country .
In the latter case, the CBI indicted Bhandari for allegedly receiving bribes worth $ 4.99 million from the SECL in 2009 to influence government officials in awarding the 6,744 crore contract. rupees to ONGC Petro Additions Ltd (OPaL), a company promoted by PSUs as ONGC. , GAIL and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation.
The allegation is that the Dual Feed Cracker Unit (DFCU), said CBI, which was to be installed at the Dahej petrochemical complex in Gujarat, was awarded to SECL in 2009 and advance payments were made to it. paid by ONGC in contravention. directives from the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
In its FIR, the CBI also appointed the Senior Director of SECL Hong Namkoong, UK-based Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd, and UAE-based Santech International FZC of Bhandari, in addition to unidentified officials of ONGC and OPaL, for alleged corruption in the price. of the contract.
The call for tenders for the DFCU project was launched on April 20, 2007 for which two consortia – Linde and Korean SECL in Germany, Shaw Stone and Webster and Indian Larsen & Toubro in the United States submitted their bids.
Linde and the SECL consortium were awarded the contract at their “fixed price of Rs 6,875.11 crore” on the basis of a higher net present value (NPV).
Linde and SECL’s NPV has been calculated at around Rs 4,160 crore while that of Shawstone and Webster and L&T around Rs 3,918 crore.
The tender committee concluded that the NPV of Linde and SECL was higher and that the fixed prices were 7.75 percent lower than those of the competing consortium.
The other consortium challenged the decision but the objection was dismissed and the contract was awarded to the Linde and SECL consortium for a lump sum price of over Rs 6,744 crore on February 10, 2009.
The agreement signed between the consortium and ONGC and OPaL contained an integrity pact which stipulated that no agent or consultant was to be hired and that no commission or fees could be paid on the contract in India or abroad. , said the CBI.
The CAG had also raised objections against it and the project was not completed even two years after the August 2012 deadline.
The CBI alleged that Bhandari, in its tax returns, did not disclose the maintenance of foreign bank accounts in Santech International’s name or the receipt of $ 4.99 million.
Bhandari’s case first came to light after the Income Tax Service investigated him in April 2016 and recovered some “sensitive” official defense documents from his premises.
The tax department had put him under criminal charge of the anti-black money law.
